July Weekending on the Water

High Summer

Yes, High Summer is upon us :-)
(any Van Morrison fans out there?)

-Erin 

The Best Place to be @ 7 am on a Saturday Morning...

Summer Officially Starts Today! 

Starting my first day of summer off right, how bout you?

Happy Weekending!

xoxo,

-Erin 

Riding Into Summer

Erin riding Saga - (8 year old Off the Track Thoroughbred)

Summer is nearly here! School is nearly out!!!  Are you as ready as I am?? 

So ready to be done withpacking lunches, driving kids back and forth to school and 

to throw the "schedule" out the window :-)

Nikki is finishing Grade 6 & saying goodbye to Elementary School - 

She will be in Junior high next fall!

She is looking forward to lots of horseback riding and shows, event camp, 

horsemanship camp and Girl's Leadership Camp…

Cole is finishing Grade 8 NEXT WEEK and saying Goodbye to Junior High and Hello High School!

He will be gone a good portion of the summer at 2 dry-land ski training camps and

then he leaves for a few weeks in Switzerland for summer alpine training camp!

In the fall he will be heading to a boarding school 

so that competitive skiing can be a bigger part of  his time in high school  :-) 

Erin will be doing as much riding as possible with Saga :-) 

Trying to keep up with a little gardening and her office work & 

Managing the crews working here - onto phase 2 of our house addition project - FINALLY!!

Pray we survive a few months with only one bathroom... again - 

Good thing the kids will be gone for several weeks this summer :-) 

George will likely be found boating on the Lake or on his new Harley whenever it isn't raining :-)

Are you as ready for summer as we all are? We're almost there!! 

- Erin 

We've Reached the Middle

We have officially reached the middle of Race Season!!
Now only 7, SEVEN,  more weeks to go... :-)

Cole is training and racing 6 days a week this season 
so the schedule is a little crazy for me at times - but he is loving it. 

We got 10 inches of fresh powder yesterday with more on the way this weekend! 

The conditions have been amazing and so have Cole's results but with all 
the early mornings & long drives to distant mountains for races....

I am beginning to think it might be more efficient if he just showered at night 

and slept in his GS suit - LOL! 

-Erin 

2014

For the good times, I am grateful.
For the hard times, I trust they are part of a bigger plan.
For the unknown that lies ahead, I am hopeful...

And in 2014 may you...

"Be at War with your Vices, at Peace with your Neighbours, 

and let every New-Year find you a better Man." 

~Quoted in Benjamin Franklin's 1755 Poor Richard's Almanac, December  

xoxo - Erin 

Merry Christmas

From our little corner of New Hampshire 
we wish you and your family a Happy Christmas!

With Love,

Erin, George, Cole & Nikki

Zoey 

Bode 

& Maximus too :-) 

Full Days of Summer - Sunrise to Sunset

Early morning, Sunrise in the barn - Best place to start the day

Squeezing in a ride, in the cool early morning air, sun still rising
(iPhone photo by Nikki from her horse :-)

Cole, off to ski camp

Picture sent from camp :-)

Maximus

Afternoons cooling off -  diving off the boat

Bode & Maximus (4 1/2 months - 50.2 pounds)

Our newest additions to the homestead, Ducks! 

Progress on the vine

Cole & Nikki driving around Cole's new birthday present - yes he's a teenager now - 13!

Showing

Max taking a break

Bode, Zoey & Nikki on the water - weeknight picnic on our boat, swim and sunset cruise

heading back towards the dock

Watching the last light of a beautiful summer's day

Wishing you all the joy that full Summer Days bring
-Erin 

Horse Show Season and Eventing

 Again this summer our weekends (and weekdays) 

are filled with riding horses and of course Horse Shows.   

Nikki is 10 this year and has decided to show not just on the Hunter Jumper Circuit 

but she started Eventing - 

for those not in the know, it's basically the triathalon for equestrians. 

She has had a successful season coming in Reserve Champion (2nd place) in her first Event in the 2'3" - 17 and under division and has 18 ribbons out of which 6 are blues (1st place).  She is off to a great start, here are some of the highlights in pictures - 

Nikki and Roxy Blue Eyes
Roxy is a new horse, Nikki started riding her in March and Roxy just learned to jump 4 months ago
Nikki loves her and she is a great horse! 

Nikki's 1st Eventing Show 
the weather was awful - 40 degrees and pouring rain but she had so much fun

Nikki and Dancing Sky - Stadium Jumping

At the start of the cross country course

Nikki happy - no faults and no refusals on the course :-)

Nikki, reserve champion, Nikki's trainer and Miriam, another girl from the barn -
All soaking wet but smiling with Ribbons in hand
Unfortunately, I did not get any good pictures of the dressage phase 
because it was pouring so hard, hopefully next time

Next week Nikki's off to horse camp with her horse, Roxy Blue Eyes, 

and then she's attending a week of Jumper Camp in August.

She also has 5 more hunter jumper shows, along with a two-phase event

and a fall eventing show still ahead of her. 

And now just to tickle you pink - here's me - yup, that's me with Peek-A-Boo
I started riding too - 14 weeks ago
So naturally, I decided to test my skills at a show;
Never mind the fact my daughter jumps higher than me and rides better;

 I got a few ribbons too :-)


Happy 4th of July!
-Erin